As a sector, though, resources fared little worse than the broader market.

After the closing bell, Macarthur Coal announced it had received an indicative $4.7 billion cash takeover offer from US miner Peabody Energy and steelmaker ArcelorMittal.

The stock was down 32¢, or 2.81 per cent, to $11.08. Peabody, which last year made an unsuccessful takeover offer amid a bidding war for Macarthur, and ArcelorMittal are offering $US15.50 per share.

It wasn’t the only bid that was made yesterday, with Bannerman Resources receiving a “highly conditional" $143 million bid from China’s Sichuan Hanlong Group. Bannerman owns 80 per cent of the large Etango uranium deposit in Namibia. Shares in the explorer leaped 9¢, or 23.38 per cent, to 47.4¢, below the proposed offer price of 61.2¢ per Bannerman share.

Merger activity aside, it was a messy day for most resources stocks, with coal stocks among those hit hardest by the official details of the carbon tax.

On the exchange, seven (11 per cent of) stocks within the 63-member S&P/ASX 200 Resources index managed to close in positive territory, while two ended flat. The index was off 1.55 per cent, compared with 1.56 per cent for the broader S&P/ASX 200 index.

But only 18 (9 per cent) of the top-200 stocks managed to end in the black, six closing flat.

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For the year, the S&P/ASX 200 resources index is down 4.68 per cent, compared to a 3.43 per cent fall for the S&P/ASX 200. The S&P/ASX Small Resources index was hardest hit, slumping more than 16 per cent.

As expected, coal names took a knock. Market darling Intrepid Mines was the session’s second-worst performer, down 6.40 per cent, while Aquila Resources slumped 5.56 per cent. White Energy fell 4.9 per cent and Coalspur Mines 3.69 per cent.

Bathurst Resources, which was last month admitted to the S&P/ASX 200 index by index services provider Standard & Poor’s and ranked as the best performer in that index in the financial year to June 30, was down 3.60 per cent.

The worst performer in the resources index was BlueScope Steel, down 6.67 per cent. The steelmaker is one of stocks most affected by the carbon scheme, but it, alongside peer OneSteel, said the government’s proposed Steel Transformation Plan recognised their calls for a sectoral approach to the carbon tax.

BlueScope chief executive Paul O’Malley said the $300 million four-year transitional support package for the steelmaking industry was “a pragmatic solution to a complex problem". OneSteel believes the measures are “appropriate and sensible".